Heat treating machine tool



Dec. 12,. 1939.- w, HQFARR 2,182,799

' HEAT.THEA'IING MACHINE TOOL Filed May 28, 1938 INV5NTOR. 'Wbrrew HFarr' ATTORNEY f Patented Dec. 12, 1939 Wheel'Company, PhiladelphimPm, acorporatlon of Pennsylvania Application May 2a, 1938, Serial n5. norm 1'1 Claims. (Cl. zs-as The present invention relates to means forhardening metals.

More specifically, it relatesto a high frequency electric heating devicecombined with a nozzle for a quenching liquid, intended'to hardenpriinarily the inner surface portions of a hollow obect.

Still more specifically, the invention relates to combining a hardeningmeans of this type with a machine for performing machining operations onthe article, and wherein the hardening device. forms a component part ortool, of such machine. i

Heretofore in the hardening of metal articles it has been customary todo the machining and the hardening in separate machines. This iswastein] of both time and space since it is necessary to remove thearticle which has been machined from the machine tool which has done thework and then to insert and adjust the article in the device which is toperform the heating and hardening operations, which requiresskilled'manual labor.

By combining a novel kind of hardening device withja machine tool whichperforms a series of operations on' the article, it is possible tocarryout the heating andhardening as some of l the routine operationsperformed by the machine, so that a single chucking of the blank articleis all that is necessary until the finished article, completely machinedand hardened, is finally-removed from the tool.

Machines are known wherein a number of chucks rotating about verticalaxes, evenly and symmetrically spaced about the vertical axis of themachine as a whole, are brought into successive machining positions bysuitable gearing and the like in the machine tool, so that theoperations of the machine are performed oneafter another, by means of agroup of tools which are aligned with the axes ofthe respective chucks.the machine having means for advancing and retracting the various toolsafter the chucks have been brought into proper position to align withsuch tools.

The heating and hardening device embodied in the present invention hasbeen combined with a machine of this type by modifying the machine .tothe extent that was necessary to accommodate such heating and hardeningmeans, which ordinarily would not fit in the space available inconventional tools of this kind.

A particular tool whichiis well adapted for this purpose is the oneknown to thetrade as the Multimatic, such, for example, as isdisclosedin U; SJPatents 1,258,089, 1,360,175,. and others. A combined toolsuitable for carrying. out my invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, whereini g Figure 1 is a diagrammatic frontelevation of the machine, certain 'parts being shown in sec- Figure 2 isa diagrammatic plan; view, one.

very much reduced scale, of the machine .illusk trated in Figure 1. w

Referring to li'igure 1 the machine' comprises a base i, .upon which ismounted a turntable '2, which isrotated in the direction of the arrow 3by mechanism controlled by the motor 4 mounted on top of the machine.Thelturntable 2 carries a series of pedestals l, eight being'included inthe present case, each of which carries a chuck 8 at its upper end.These chucks have their axes vertical and each chuck is given rotarymovement by mechanism contained within the base l and turntable 2,.frompower supplied by themotor 4. i I y These chucks are intended to receiveworkpieces, here shown as wheel'hubs I. v The chuck, 6,*immediatelyto,,the' left of'the center, is one which serves as the loading andunloading-station for the machine tool, that is, this chuck is the onein which the article is originally placed in order to subject it to themachiningoperations and also'is the one from which the article isremoved after the machine'has performed all its operations on thework-piece. It

will be understood that theconveyor' 2 rotates .only at intervals andbetween such 'intervals ,the specific machiningop'eratlons are performedon. the respective work-pieces by the tools with which they are aligned.These. tools are shown diagrammatically, axially and vertically alignedwith the respective chucks, the tools being designated by referencecharacter T in each case and no attempt being made to indicate theirspecific natures, sinceit will be'obvious that any tools suitable forthe desired operations on the work-piecesfwill be appliedto the toolholders 8. 8,.etc. These tools T are fed to and from the work by meansof the screws 9, which coact with the carriages l0, supporting the toolsand the screws 9 are in turn rotated by, suitable mech: anismcontainedin the upper casing ll of the machine.

It will be noted that while in the patented machines above, referred tothe upper caslngis completely; cylindrical, in the 7 present instancethis casing has been modified by removing a portion from the frontthereof so as to make room for heating and hardening appliance, formingpart of the present invention.

Each of the carriages l0 moves in proper guide means, not shown, on oneof the surfaces of the prismatic pillar l2 forming part of the machineand having a number of prism faces, such as is, eight being embodied inthe present device, that is, the pillar in the present device is anoctagonal prism, shown in front elevation, with three of its faces orfacets l3 vls.ble. Each of these facets, with the exception of the oneimmediately to the left of the central one, carries a tool foroperatingpn the work-piece, the one at the loading and unloading stationbeing, of course, left blank so that the operator may insert and removethe work-pieces on the corresponding chuck during the time that no toolis acting on such work-piece. 'j

While all the tools T, as stated. may be of various conventionalnatures, the particular tool located on the front panel l3 is-theheating and hardening device forming an important component of thepresent invention. This heatmg and hardening device is shown in fulldetail in my copending case Serial No. 96,346, filed August 17, 1936,and such case'should be referred to for any further informationconcerning the actual structure involved.

The present showing of the heating and hardening means is purelydiagrammatic and compr ses a tubular member l4 which extends ver- Wtically downward and terminates in the spray: nozzle I5 whichis,-adapted to spray a chilling liquid against the interior of aworkpiece I, and a flexible tube 'l6 attached to the upper end of the tubel4 to supply the said quenching liquid. The vertical position of thetube, is controlled by means of a piston 41 attached thereto andoperating within the bore ll of a pneumatic cylinder I! attached to themachine in any suitable way, as by the fasteninglugs 20. Compressed airfor operating the piston ll within its cylinder may be supplied to saidcylinder through the corresponding pipes 2i and 22 bymeans of suitablevalve mechanism illustrated in the copendiig case.

Concentric with the pipe l4 and surrounding the same is a furthertubular member 23 which carries at its upper :,end a piston 24 operatingwithin the bore 25 of a cylinder 28 secured to the machine by suitablefastening means, such as 21. Compressed air for operating the piston 24may be fed through the pipes 28 and 29, as disclosed in the copendingcase. j

At its lower end the tubular member 13 carries a core ill having thereona winding II, which may be grounded to the core has shown at If, and theother end 33 of which isattached to the upper end of a heating coil 34,wound upon a core 35, carried by the lower end of the tube 23, the otherend of the coil 34 being grounded to the core 35; as-shown at 36. Thewinding 3i constitutes the secondary winding of a transformer v whoseprimary winding is designated by reference character 31 and which iswound within the hollow core 38, although here shown diagrammatically assurrounding said core. The said core 38 is secured to the machine by anysuitable fastening means, such as 39. Power may be supplied to this coilthrough the leads 40 and 4|.

In operation it will be understood that the work-piece will be securedin that chuck 6 which happens to be in the loading position andthereupon the machine is put into action, whereupon all the chucks willbe moved one position to the of the operation of their respective workcylinders.

left, so that each chuck will occupy the position formerly held by thepreceding one. Thus a work-piece inserted in any chuck will besuccessively treated by the various tools until it finally reaches thechuck 8, shown inthe immediate front, which is the heating and hardeningposition.

. When the work-piece is in thisposition the chuck 4 will continue torotate the work-piece and by any desired means, preferably automaticallycontrolled by the machine itself, although it may be manuallycontrolled, if preferred, air will be admitted to the cylinders I! and24 which will depress the pistons, 11 and 24, thus carrying the nozzleportion II of the tube [4 to a position well below the bottom of thework-piece I, while simultaneously carrying the heatingcoil I4 into aposition within the bore of the huh I and simultaneously carrying thecore Ill and its surrounding coil ll into electrical cooperation withthe core 3! and the primary winding 31, so that said two windings atthis time will form a transto the leads 40 and 4! to induce secondarypower in the winding 3| which will flow through the lead 3! and theground connection to the terminals of the heating coil 34, therebyproducing intense heat in the inner portions of the hub l byelectromagnetic high frequency induction, as disclosed in my copendingcase above referred to.

While the power may-be turned on and off to supply the winding ",in oneform of my invention, the leads 40 and 4| are left continuouslyconnected to the power supply and the power control is secured purelybybringing the secondary winding, and its core 30 into and out of theprimary winding and core and either method may, of course, be used, aspreferred, in any given instance.

When the article has been heated to a sum- 'cient degree the heatingcoil is withdrawn by with its heating coil 34. The nozzle I! may then bebrought into position within the hub I by applying compressed air to thecylinder ll and when the nozzle I! is in proper position within the boreof the hub a quenching liquid will be sprayed thereinto from the pipe l4to harden the inner surface portions of the said hub or other work-pieceI, l

Alternatively the nozzle I! may be lowered in advance of the heatingcoil and withdrawn after withdrawal of the heating coil, by propertiming pneumatic when the quenching action has been completed, furtherair pressure may be applied to the pipe 22 to raise the piston I! to thetop of its stroke and lift the nozzle I! clear of the workpiece I sothat the said work-piece may move past the lower end of the pipe l4 intothe next work position, so that the finished work-piece may be removedat the next station and a new one inserted.

It will be understood that the various shafts, gears and other mechanismforming part of the 'machine tool, do not'constitute elements of. thepresentinvention. Such mechanism is old and is disclosed in the priorfitents above referred to, which should be consulted for the details-oftheir construction. a l

The present invention relates solely to the modification ofsuch machine,so that it may be adapted for combination with induction heating pieces.

and quenching means of the typedisclosed in my copending case.

By thus combining the heating and quenching means with a machine forperforming the actual machining operations on the articles, it isobvious that I have provided a great economyin floor space and inexpense of machinery, as well as in manual labor thatwould be requiredif the operations were performed in two separate machines.

For example, if allthe machining were done on one machine this wouldrequire a complete machine with an attendant, who would chuck and centerthe work-pieces and remove the finishedmachined articles therefrom andanothermachine and operator would take the machined workpieces and clampthem in position, after centering them in the other machine whosefunction would be solely the heating and quenching. This second machine,as formerly constructed and as disclosed in my prior cases abovereferre'd'to, of course, would be more expensive to make on a frameworkof its own and would require additional space for its installation, aswell as requiring the additional labor .of its attendant, who

While I have disclosed herein a single preferred embodiment of theinvention it is obvious that the invention is not limited to machines ofthe particular type disclosed herein, but may also be adapted withcertain necessary changes to other types of automatic machine tools,wherein a number of operations are performed on work- The invention is,therefore, to be considered not as limited to the specific embodimentdisclosed but only limited in scope by the following.

I claim:

1. A multiple machine tool comprising individual mechanism forperforming various operations in succession on-a work-piece including atleast one machining operation adapted to prepare a surface on saidwork-piece for hardening, said machine tool comprising as one of itstools a mechanism for heating and quenching a hardenable work-piece.

2. A multiple machine tool comprising individual mechanisms forperforming various operations in succession on a work-piece including amachining operation, said machine tool also comprising as one of itstools a high frequency induction heating device for a work-piece.

tating.

4. A multipleymachine tool comprising individual mechanisms forperforming various operations in succession on a work-piece preparatoryto hardening a surface on said work-piece,'said machine tool comprisingas one of-its tools a high frequency induction heating device for awork-piece, and means associated therewith for supplying a quenchingmedium to the heated workpiece. I g

5. A multiple machine tool comprising individual mechanisms forperformingfvarious oper-' ations in succession on rotating work-piecespreparatory to hardening said work-pieces, said machine tool comprisingas one ,of its tools a high frequency induction heating device'having aportion which will enter into a hollow 'rotating work-piece to heat theinterior of the same while it is rotating, means for withdrawing thesaid portion of the heating device from the work-piece, and means forinserting in place thereof a nozzle for supplying a quenching liquid tothe heated portion of the work-piece. a

6. A multiple machine tool comprising individual mechanisms forperforming various optool comprising as one of its toois a highfrequency induction heating device having a portion which will enterinto a hollow rotating work-piece to heat the interior of the same whileit is retating, and pneumatic means for moving said heating device intoand out of the work-piece.

' 7. A multiple machine tool comprising indi vidual mechanisms forperforming various operations in succession on rotating work-piecesincluding a machining operation, said machine tool comprising as one ofits tools a high frequency induction heating device having a portionwhich will .enter into a hollow rotating-work-piece to heat the interiorof the same while it is rotating,

pneumatic means for withdrawing the said portion of the heating devicefrom the work-piece, I and pneumatic means for inserting in placethereof a nozzle for supplying a quenchingliquid to the heated portionof the work-piece.

W. H. FARR.

